Forest Landscape Change and Driving Forces in Nanling National Nature Reserve,Guangdong

Landscape change and its driving forces are always one of the major issues in landscape ecology. In this paper,we investigated the landscape pattern of Nanling National Nature Reserve using TM data and forest stand map. The paper aims at exploring how and why the landscape changed form 1988 to 2009. The results indicated that: the major landscape types are evergreen broad-leaved forest and coniferous forests,the area ratio of both total more than 80%; area ratio of other landscape types is less than 10%,including mainly mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest,deciduous forest,shrub,other woodland,cultivated land,other land,construction land and water. During the 20 years,evergreen broad-leaved forest landscape has become a large-scale substrate,coniferous forests are interspersed,a small area of mixed coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest patches expands; forest area in the study area changes slightly,the number of blocks increases,the degree of landscape fragmentation increases; forest landscapes change,and are less affected by human activities,which is closely related to the establishment,management and protection of protected areas.

Valuation on Forest Ecosystem Services of Nanling National Nature Reserve

The forest ecological system fulfills many important ecological functions. Researches on the analysis and valuation on forest ecosystem services are at the cutting edge of current ecology and ecological economics. Based on the calculation method of service value of forest ecosystem, 7 forest ecosystem services of Nanling National Nature Reserve were valued, totaling 703.48 million yuan/year. In terms of the contribution size of the service value of forest ecosystem, carbon fixation and oxygen release came as the greatest one, followed by conservation of soil, purification of the air, biodiversity conservation, conservation of water, accumulation of nutrients, and forest recreation. With its value of 208.46 million yuan, carbon fixation and oxygen release ranked first, accounting for 29.63% of the total value; conservation of soil of 24.67% service value took the second place; purification of the air came in third in the value rankings, representing 22.55% of the total value; the fourth one was biodiversity conservation, whose service value came up to 14.51%. Those 4 services made up 91.36% of the total value while other 3 services ranging from conservation of water, accumulation of nutrients to forest recreation were merely a small proportion. This is because the Nanling National Nature Reserve is essentially a large oxygen bar. The above-mentioned ecosystem valuation method contributes to the understanding of the overall value of the forest ecosystem as well as the implementation and advancement in the regional sustainable development strategy.

RS-based Evaluation of Forest Cover Changes in Nanling National Nature Reserve

3S technology was applied to analyze spatio-temporal changes of landscape pattern in Nanling National Nature Reserve and the driving forces. The results showed that the study area was dominated by forest landscape from 1988 to 2009, accounting for 95% of the total area, among all forest landscapes, evergreen broadleaved forest accounted for the largest ratio(>50%). In terms of landscape fragmentation, landscape density index of the study area increased, landscape fragmentation was aggravated; patch density of core zone declined slightly, mean patch area of all landscape types increased, landscape fragmentation decreased slightly; buffer zone and experimental zone witnessed the aggravation of fragmentation. In terms of landscape diversity, landscape pattern of the study area became increasingly complex, diversity index increased, landscape heterogenization was enhanced; landscape diversity of the core zone increased slightly, that of the buffer zone increased greatly, but that of the experimental zone declined and landscape heterogenization reduced. Landscapes in the whole area grew more diversified, while landscape pattern of the core zone was simplified, that of the buffer zone witnessed slight changes, and that of the experimental zone kept consistent with that of the study area. In terms of driving forces of landscape pattern change, natural factors have contributed to the landscape changes in the study area, but human factors such as forest management, forest tourism, local residents an economic factors played a dominant role. With the increasing external interventions to the landscape pattern change, the contradiction between landscape eco-environment protection and resource development and utilization in Nanling National Nature Reserve will be increasingly sharpened.

Functional Division Analysis and Optimization Design of Nanling Nature Reserve

Nanling National Nature Reserve is established on the basis of 5 provincial nature reserves, and the original functional zoning is maintained. This paper explored problems of the reserve in division range and functional zoning, and gavea pertinent adjustment scheme. The adjustment results are(1) cutting out the scattered areas in neighborhood, and fi lling in the internal split parts;(2) establishing corridors between the reserve and neighboring nature reserves;(3) redividing the functional zones.

Temporal patterns of three sympatric pheasant species in the Nanling Mountains: N-mixture modeling applied to detect abundance

Background:The reliability of long-term population estimates is crucial for conservation and management purposes.Most previous studies assume that count indices are proportionally related to abundance;however,this assumption may not hold when detection varies spatially and temporally.We examined seasonal variations in abundance of three bird species(Cabot’s Tragopan Tragopan caboti,Silver Pheasant Lophura nycthemera,and Whitenecklaced Partridge Arborophila gingica) along an elevational gradient,using N-mixture models that take into account imperfect detection in our bird data.Methods:Camera-trapping was used to monitor temporal activity patterns of these species at Guangdong Nanling National Nature Reserve from December 2013 to November 2017(4 seasons per year).For abundance analysis(N-mixture modeling),we divided a year into 4 seasons,i.e.3 months per season,and performed the analysis by season.Elevation was incorporated into the N-mixture model as a covariate that may affect abundance.We compared the N-mixture model with a null model(no covariate model) and selected the better model based on AIC values to make an inference.Results:From 24 sampling sites,we obtained 6786 photographs of 8482 individuals of 44 bird species and 26 mammal species.Silver Pheasant was photographed much more frequently and showed higher temporal activity frequency than White-necklaced Partridge or Cabot’s Tragopan.Silver Pheasant was camera-captured most frequently in summer,and other two species in winters.All three species had two daytime activity peaks:between 6:00 a.m.and 10:00 a.m.,and between 5:00 p.m.and 7:00 p.m.,respectively.Our estimated abundance and detection probability from the N-mixture model were variable by season.In particular,all three species showed greater abundance in summer than in winter,and estimated abundance patterns of all three species were more similar with observed cameratrapping counts in summers.Moreover,in winter,elevation had a positive impact on abundance of Silver Pheasant and Cabot’s Tragopan,but not on White-necklaced Partridge.Conclusions:Our results demonstrate that the N-mixture model performed well in the estimation of temporal popu lation abundance at local fixed permanent plots in mountain habitat in southern China,based on the modeling of repeated camera-trapping counts.The seasonal differences in abundance of the three endemic bird species and the strong effect of elevation on abundance of two species in winter were only indicative of variations in spatio-tempora distribution within species and between species.In identifying suitable habitat for endemic pheasants,the positive elevational effect also suggests that more attention should be paid to conservation of areas with higher elevation in the Nanling Mountains.

Redefinition of the Odorrana versabilis Group,with a New Species from China(Anura,Ranidae,Odorrana)

Taxonomic studies of the Odorrana versabilis group have been consistently disorganized,and they have often been incorrectly associated with an abandoned subgenus or genus Bamburana in existing literature.In this study,we conducted an integrative taxonomic analysis using molecular phylogenetic analysis of two mitochondrial gene fragments(16S rRNA and CO1)and morphological examination of 41 specimens collected during herpetological surveys in southern China.Our results confirmed the monophyly of O.versabilis group which exhibited distinct morphological traits.We also identified a cryptic lineage sister with O.exiliversabilis.Additionally,our study revealed that O.trankieni was nested within O.nasuta.Consequently,we redefined the morphological characteristics of the O.versabilis group,described a new species in this group,O.confusa sp.nov.,and proposed that O.trankieni be considered a junior synonym of O.nasuta.One of the most significant findings of this study was the observation of distinct morphological changes in adult males across all species within the O.versabilis group between the non-breeding and breeding seasons.This study contributes to research on various aspects of Asian amphibian fauna,including taxonomy,ecology,evolution,and physiology.

The moth Joelminetia kostjuki Speidel & Witt, 2007(Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) newly recorded from China

A newly recorded genus Joelminetia Speidel Witt, 2007 in the family Pyralidae and the newly recorded species Joelminetia kostjuki Speidel Witt, 2007 are reported from South China. Morphological descriptions and illustrations of the genus and species are given.